The Democrat mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, announced that the city will change some of its immigration policies, making it no longer a sanctuary city.

Mayor Craig Greenberg announced on Tuesday that the city will reinstate a policy requiring ICE to receive 48 hours’ notice before inmates with immigration detainers are released from jail, reported WAVE.

The policy requires that inmates booked at Louisville Metro Corrections be fingerprinted and entered into a federal database accessible by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

If Homeland Security informs Metro Corrections that an inmate has a detainer, the jail will provide immigration with a 48-hour notice before the inmate is released.

The city had a 48-hour policy until 2017, but had reduced it to a 5 to 12-hour window, which landed them in hot water with the federal government, according to Greenberg.

The mayor said he received a letter from the Department of Justice in June saying that Louisville was violating federal law and is listed as a sanctuary city. 

‘Louisville stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants if we remain classified as a sanctuary city,’ the mayor said.

‘Many of those funds are used to provide food, rental assistance, and medical care to our most vulnerable residents. I will not risk hurting them either.’

Louisville, Kentucky (pictured), will reinstate a policy requiring ICE to receive 48 hours’ notice before inmates with immigration detainers are released from jail

Mayor Craig Greenberg (pictured) said he made the decision to reinstate the policy because other sanctuary cities are being targeted by the Trump administration 

He explained that Louisville was the only city in the state not complying with the 48-hour immigration policy, and he believed the reversal would ultimately benefit immigrants.

‘This change in designation is critical. Cities on the sanctuary city list right now are experiencing a terrifying increase in raids by ICE, including mass raids. Just look at what’s gone on in LA and other cities across the country,’ Greenberg said.

‘We have tens of thousands of immigrant families in Louisville. We do not want to see highly coordinated and often violent federal enforcement action here, especially in workplaces, residential areas, schools, places of worship, parks and other areas where law-abiding people gather.

‘We do not want the National Guard occupying the streets of Louisville. I will not risk the safety of our broader immigrant community.’ 

The mayor claimed that fewer than 100 inmates in the jail each year are charged with crimes and impacted by the detainer. 

‘I have been assured by the U.S. Department of Justice that, if we reinstate the 48-hour detainers for inmates who’ve been arrested for crimes, Louisville will be taken off the federal sanctuary city list,’ Greenberg said. 

‘Accordingly, Metro Corrections will begin honoring 48-hour federal detainers as soon as practical because the stakes are too high.’ 

Louisville Metro Corrections (pictured) will give ICE officials a 48-hour notice before inmates with immigration detainers are released

Attorney General Pam Bondi praised Greenberg’s decision and called it a ‘major victory for the Department of Justice.’

‘In a major victory for the Department of Justice, the city of Louisville is dropping its sanctuary city policies as a result of a strong written warning from my office,’ Bondi said on X.

‘This should set an example to other cities. Instead of forcing us to sue you — which we will, without hesitation — follow the law, get rid of sanctuary policies, and work with us to fix the illegal immigration crisis.’